Where's the (c) on unix? - legality of posting sources

[D.A. Seifert]

> Now, trade-secret protection is a very tricky think.  It can be lost
> simply by having the object of the secret be published.  For example,
> if I find out the secret of Coca-Cola and print it in the LA Times, 
> Coke Corp. can prosecute me for the billions of dollars of damages 
> I have done them.  But the secrecy has been lost, and ANYONE else 
> can use the formula without any liability whatsoever.

Depends on how you find out what the secret of Coca-Cola is.  There
are only three people in the world who know this secret.  They thus
take precautions such as not flying on the same plane together
(in case it crashes).  If you get the secret from Coca-cola, (ha!) sign
a non-disclosure agreement, and then publish the info, yes Coca-cola
can sue you.  If however, you buy a bottle of Coke(tm) at your
friendly neighborhood vending machine (no document signed!),
and "reverse engineer" it by chemical analysis, there's nothing
they can do about it.  Their secret depends on you not being
able to reverse engineer their product.  That's what *secret* means.

Surely with modern technology it would be possible to reverse
engineer Coke.  Appariently(sp) noone thinks it's worth the trouble,
they'd rather market a slightly different taste and hope the
the public likes it.

UNIX(tm) is a little different.  AT&T will not sell it to you
unless you sign the document saying you promise not to tell.
Thus if you have a legal copy of UNIX to reverse engineer,
you have promised not to tell. (If you have the source, you
wouldn't have to reverse engineer it...)

Hmmm... what happens when UNIX becomes so popular that
virtually all computer people have (legal) access to it. Not much
of a "secret" anymore, eh?

as if you didn't know, UNIX is a trademark of AT&T-BL, and
Coke is a trademark of the Coca-Cola Company.
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